Apparatus for controlling the speed of railroad-trains.



' H. J. W-ARTHEN. v APPARATUS FOR CONTROLLING THE SPEED OF RAILROAD TRAINS.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 24, 1912 1,090,361 Patented Meir.17,1914.

WITNESSEES:

cfjfrvg wwm INVENTOR:

the subject-matter of a companion applicathe intervention of beveled on the spindle and shaft respectively, said being supported in a hearing- I emor device. In'the .p driving-shaft 7, operating the governor," is

1 jdriven from an axle ll comotive by means of a belt'12,'which passes STATES f anxiety .1. wani'rnnn, or-wn'snrneron, nr's'rnxcr or corner era.

manarus ron conrnonnme rrtn srnnnao'r nernnoansrnarns.

I s iecificationotletters Patent; x 'ftented- Ma -Q17, 1914 Application filed .Iune 24, 1 912, Serial 1%. mated"; I

' To all'whom itmay concern; o Be it known; that I, HARRY J. WARTHEN, a citizen] of the United. States,-residing' at Washington, in the District-of Columbia,

' 5 have invented an Apparatus for-Controlling rains, ofwhich the.

latter will be hereinafter explained; Near the outer end of this switch-lever is a flat the-sped of-Rai 1 -;following' is a specification. Q i

Theinvention shown and described in this "blpplication is part of a system-for control- 11ng 'the',operat1on of railroad trains forming tion forpatentffiled- Jun'e24, 1912, Serial No.70'5,618.'

1 The present invention relates especially to themeans.e'arnployed' for stopping a railroad train automatically when it exceeds a'predeterminedrate of speed, to -thereby provide for limiting the operation of the train under certain conditio'ins. V 4 v I A In the resent instance mechanical de-' vices, including a governor and. electric switches, are employed for: controllingan electric circuit through" a solenoid, which: latter operates to open and olose' a valve-of. the air-brake system or steam-supply, ac-

cording to the speed o f the train; the elee tric switches being arranged to also affect the circuit in case any essential part ofthe become broken or disazranged, all as hereinafter .fully described and specifically set' forthin the appended claims. 7

In thejaccompanyingl drawings Figure 1 is a general view-ofthe meansempIoy-ed for carrying out my present invention. .Fig. 2 isa sectional view on the line 22' of Fig. 1, to show; the belt connection and co6perat ing partslj Fig. 3 is an enlarged detail view of the main electric-switch, showingthe op- 40 e'ration thereof under different conditions.

' In carrying out my invention I employ in ,-the first place a'con venti'onal form of governor device 5, in which the vertical spindle 6 isigeared to the driving-shaft 7 through over pulleys 13 and 14 on the shaft and axle, respectively. The vertical spindle 6 governor device and its connections should" pinions 8 and 9' works loosely through the pinion 8: and frame 10 of the'governor, and at its lower end is connected ,to an electric switch-,lever 15-, pivoted in ears 1011 on the supporting frame 10,; and provided at its outer or free end wit-haweight 15 ,the purpose of which portion 15 (Fig. 3), which is adapted'to' move over a contact-plate 16, supported by a suitable bracket 17, said contact-platebeing. of suchllength and sodisposed that the switch-lever will be in engagement there with when the governor is at rest and when the spindle thereof. is raised to a certain extent. For instance the length of the contact-plate may besuch that the switch-lever will clear the-upper en'cl thereof when the governor indicates a, speed of the train in of course,

excess of ten miles an hour, and

by lengthening the contact-plate the maxi mum' speed may be increased; Furthermor'e, the relation of the switch lever and contact-plate is'such that, should the spindle would drop and order to lever is provided below' the contact-plate, insure'this operation the to. When lthe switch-lever. moves beyond the upper or lower end of the contact-plate the electric circuit, hereinafter described is .-broken, as will be understood. The electrlc-swltch above described is in raised, and therefore closed position, by :means of a roller 26 at the outer end thereof resting lightly against the driving-belt .12, the lever being pivoted'in ears 27' of a sup- ,porting-braeket27, and the contact-platez2 l attached to a standard 27 on said bracket; As will be noted,therefore, this switchremains closed as'long as the belt is intact-or tent toaffect the operation of the drivingof the governor become broken or otherwise "d1sa-rranged Stud swltch-lever with the Weight-15, 'hereinbefore referred a circuit from a battery 18, or other source- The 'switch-le'ver 23 is held in a normally does not becomeslackened to. any great -ex-' shaft 7 of the governor. In case the belt should break or become excessively slack the leading to the cylinder of the locomotive-- engine, or in the train-line pipe of the airbrake system. The core 21 of the solenoid is connected to a-pivoted lever 28 connected.

to the valve 29, the parts being soarranged that the valve will be tightly closed when the solenoid is energized and opened when said solenoid is deenergized.

.The operation of the devices will be readily understood fromthe foregoing description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, for as long as the train proceeds at a speed at which the governor maintains" the switch-lever 15 in contact with the plate- 16 the circuit through the solenoid is closed and the valve 29 thereby held closed, butas soon as the speed of the train is such that the governor moves the switclrlever'lfibe' yon'd the contact-plate 16 the circuit 'is' broken, the solenoid deenergiaed and the lever operates to open the valve, and if the valve is in the traln-line'pipe of the air brake systemthe air brakes on the train are applied. The solenoid is also deenergized in case. either one of theswitch-devers 15 or 23 should drop from any cause. I

Itwill be understood, of course, that though I have herein shown and described a solenoid forzoperating the lever 28 any Copies of this patent may be obtained for other electrical device may be employed for the purpose.

Having thus described my invention, I

claim 1. In an apparatus for controlling the speed of railroad trains, an electric circuit, a solenoid and an electric-switch included in said circuit, a governor geared to a driven shaft of the train and operating the switch, and a second electric-switch in the aforesaid circuit held normally closed by apart of the governor mechanism; together with means operated by the solenoid.

2. In an apparatus for controlling thespeed of a railroad train, an electric circuit, a soleno d and an'electric-switch included in said circuit, a governor connected to the electric-switch foroperating the same, a. belt forming a drlvmg connection for the governor, and an electric-switch in the aforesaid circuit held normally closed by the belt; together with means operated by the solenoid. 3. In an apparatus for controlling the speed of a railroad train, an electric circuit, a solenoid and an electric-switch included in said circuit, a governor connected to the electric switch for operating the same, a belt forming a driving connection for the governor, a second electric-switch included in the aforesaid circuit and comprising a contact and companion lever, the latter being pivoted and provided with a. roller bearing against the belt to maintain said switch closed, and means operated by the solenoid.

In testimony whereof have signed my name tothis specification 1n the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

HARRY J.- WARTHEN. In the presence of-- W. S. D V LL, ,HoRAon L; BEAU five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G." I 

